


Born through fire

by Firephoenixace



Category: One Piece
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff and Humor, Forgiveness, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Intimacy, Jealousy, M/M, Pirates, Pranks and Practical Jokes, Pregnancy, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-21
Updated: 2017-11-22
Packaged: 2018-11-17 03:06:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11266641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Firephoenixace/pseuds/Firephoenixace
Summary: Yaoi! While Ace is on a mission, strange things is happening around the ship. Half built nests are found here and there all over the ship, and what the hell is up with Marco? Male pregnancy! Pregnant Marco! Fluff! Family bounding! MarcoxAce Warnings: Swearing, violence, Angst, Hurt, comfort. I do not own one piece!





	1. What's up with Marco?

Hey Guys, this is sort of a “Pilot chapter”, I was bored and decided to write something and this Is what came out. Please tell me what you think, and I’ll think about continuing if you like it.  
x-x-x-x  
“OI Fossa, come and lock at this” Haruta called, getting the younger commanders attention.  
“What is it”? Fossa asked, curious.  
“Not sure… “ Haruta mumbled, making Fossa raise an eyebrow as he walked over, stopping, staring in confusion at what was in front of him.  
“Yeah… what the heck is that”? he asked no one in particular, considering Haruta was at much of a loss as she was.  
“I’ve been finding these things all over the ships the past 3 days or so, but it’s so much of a mess that I can’t make out what the hell it’s supposed to be” Haruta said, frowning as she looked at the messy bundle of clothes, hay, grass and twigs in front of them.  
Where did you find grass hay and twigs around here anyway? They were on a ship in the middle of nowhere for god’s sake!  
Haruta hummed and sat down on one knee to examine the bundle closer.  
“What’s going on”? A voice behind them asked, and Haruta turned around to see Izo behind him, a perfect eyebrow raised.  
“We’re trying to figure out what this is supposed to be, I’ve found them all over the ship but can’t make out what the hell it is”! Haruta explained, looking back at the mess.  
Izo walked closer to examine the bundle.  
“It kind of looks like a nest, a messy one, but..” he said after a while.  
Haruta and Fossa looked at each other, to the nest, then to Izo, then back at the nest.  
“You mean… like a bird’s nest”? Fossa asked, receiving a hum in response.  
“That’s what is looks like to me” Izo said with a small smirk.  
“But… who would build nests all over the ship” Fossa asked. Knowing that it would surely be an attempt to annoy Marco, an attempt that would surely work. He hated being made fun out of because of his devil fruit.  
“You think it may be Thatch? Normally He and Ace works together on things like this, but he hasn’t been here for over two weeks now…” Haruta Asked, mumbeling the last part.  
“No, I don’t think so… either of them would put much more effort into this I mean, this can barely even go for a nest” Izo said.  
“Well, something strange is going on here, and I want to know what it is”. Haruta said, Izo and Fossa agreeing.  
-x-  
Marco yawned as he sat up in bed, wincing as his stomach rumbled.  
He had been feeling weird this last week, much more tired than usual, and hungry pretty much all the time.   
“Maybe Ace’s appetite is contagious, yoi”? He thought as he stood up to get dressed to be able to go fetch some dinner? Lunch? He wasn’t sure.   
As he walked down the corridor leading to the Galley, a wave of dizziness washed over him, making it so he had to steady him against the wall in order to not fall over.  
He shrugged it off mentally as just being hungry and made his way in to the Galley.  
“Heeey… Marco?” Thatch’s happy greeting ended as a question as he laid his eyes on the small mountain of food at Marco’s plate as he sat down to inhale the food in a way that lacked his regular table manners completely. This hadn’t been so weird if it was a onetime thing, but over the past week Marco had started eating more than twice the amount of food he regularly ate for every meal.   
“Hmmm someone’s been hungry lately”. Izo said with a small smile towards his older brother, who responded in a noise that could just have been an attempt to actually answer, but were so muffled by the amount of food in his mouth that it sounded more like a groan.  
“Yeah, you’ve almost been inhaling food in the same amounts as Ace does” Thatch said with a smirk.  
That made Marco look up with a confused look on his face.  
“What”? He asked after swallowing.  
“Weeell, if you aren’t careful you might put on a few pounds that’s all” Thatch joked, this was pretty normal and usually Marco just rolled his eyes and told him to shut up, or simply smacked him over his head, so no one was prepared for what came next.  
Marco sat frozen, looking at Thatch with wide eyes and a horrified and hurt expression on his face.  
“D…do ya think ah’m fat? Ah know ah’ve been gaining weight but…” he said in a small voice, barley louder than a whisper as he put a hand on his stomach, looking at it.  
Thatch watched his brother in horror as Marco looked back at him, watery eyes and a quivering bottom lip.  
“Wha… NO that is not what I meant!!! Who cares if you get’s a little plushy, I promise that Ace will find you superhot anyway”! He almost shouted.  
Beside him Izo and Haruta groaned.  
Somehow Marco managed to look even more horrified at the mentioning of his younger love and he started to scream frenetically.  
“ACE IS GOING TA LEAVE ME, AH’M ALREADY OLD, ‘IS A DARN MIRACLE THAT HE EVEN WANTS TO BE WITH ME, HE WILL NEVEAH LOVE M’ IF AH GET FAT TOO” He screamed out, barley making sense as his old accent came out.  
He looked down at the food in front of him before putting his fork down, a pained look on his face and pushed the plate away.  
“Marco, what’s wrong”? Izo asked, worried.  
“Ah don’t wan’ it more, yoi”. He managed to say, wincing as his accent came out. He really tried not to use it, but he often forgot.  
“You don’t want more? Come one Marco, you look good ok? And you know Ace will always love you no matter what you look like” Haruta said, now also starting to get a bit worried.  
“Ah said ah don’ want no more didn’t ah? Jus’ leave me be, yoi” Marco growled, getting a fierce look in his eyes before paling and his face getting a green-ish color.  
“Marco.. wha..” Izo started, but Marco pressed a hand over his mouth and stomach and sprinted out of the Galley, leaving the others confused.  
Haruta and Izo exchanged worried looks while Thatch looked after Marco, completely baffled.   
“What the HELL just happened”? He asked no one in particular.  
“We’re not sure,… Obviously something is wrong with Marco, but I don’t think we should tell anyone yet. Especially not Ace… He would only worry and get distracted…” Haruta said, also looking in the direction Marco disappeared.  
“I agree, Ace is reckless as it is, but if this dosen’t clear out we’ll have no choice, Ace would never forgive us if something was wrong with Marco and we didn’t tell him”. Izo said, looking thought full.  
“Hey, maybe his strange behavior has something to do with these things all over the ship”! Haruta suddenly exclaimed, making Thatch jump startled.  
“Well, it IS a possibility, but if he knows about it, how come he hasn’t been coming after someone’s head instead of moping and throwing tantrums”? Izo answered.   
“Wait, do you know something I don’t know? That’s not fair”! Thatch said sending an accusing glare at the two.  
Haruta exchanged a look with Izo before sighing and telling Thatch what they found.  
“So, we’ve been finding these things all over the ships, apparently it’s nests as in bird nests, but we have no idea who put them there, so I just thought that Maybe Marco did them” She said with a shrug.  
Thatch stared at Haruta, blinking once, twice and thrice as he let the words sink in, before bursting out in a full blown laughter, he bent over and clutched his stomach as he gasped for air.  
“OI stop laughing, it’s not funny” Izo roared, and Thatch was so shocked he actually managed to stop laughing, looking wide eyed at Izo.  
“What do you mean”? Haruta asked, Izo rarely got mad like that.  
Izo sighed and looked around him to make sure no one would hear them.  
“As we all know, Marco is a phoenix, in other words, he is part bird, right”? He started, earning a nod before continuing.  
“The only time birds build a nest is mating season, it’s an instinct every bird have”.   
“Yeah I get that, but I still don’t understand what is so serious about this” Haruta said.  
“Just shut up, this isn’t an easy thing to say okay”? Izo hissed, making Haruta shut up once again.  
Izo sighed deeply, closing his eyes before opening them and looking at his brothers.  
“Guys, I think Marco is pregnant”.


	2. Pregnant

There was a strange silence as Thatch and Haruta watched their brother with wide eyes, until Thatch finally seemed to snap out of it.  
“Wha… you DO realize that Marco is a GUY, right”? he asked Izo with a shrieking voice.  
“Yeah, and isn’t Marco too old to have kids? I mean, he must be like a billion by now”! Haruta said with a frown as she thought.  
Izo sighed and felt a vein pop out on his forehead as he took deep breaths to calm himself down.  
“Ok, 1. Don’t let Marco hear you say that, he said and pointed at Haruta, and I am WELL aware of Marco’s gender, but also, we don’t know much about Phoenixes or their mating. If Marco is pregnant, it might have to do with his devil fruit. And if that’s the case…” Izo stopped mid- sentence as he was cut off by the loud yelping sound coming from Thatch.  
“I’M GOING TO BE AN UNCLE”! He yelled, a brilliant smile on his face, making Izo and Haruta hiss and earning himself a hard slap on the head.  
“NOT SO LOUD BAKA”   
“YOU ARE JUST AS LOUD AS HE IS YOU IDIOT” Izo yelled at Haruta, who swetdropped as Izo was in no way anymore quiet than they were.  
Before anyone could say anything more, a loud crashing sound was heard from around the commander’s quarters.  
“CRAP I FORGOT” Thatch suddenly yelled, jumping up and sprinting across the empty Galley.  
Izo and Haruta exchanged a look before following him towards the commander’s bathrooms.  
The sight that met them wasn’t what they had expected, they had expected an accident and maybe someone injured, but instead, outside of the shower room completely blue from the tuft of hair on his head to toe with a towel around his hips stood Marco. Crossing his arms and tapping his foot impatiently The man sent a death glare towards Thatch who laughed nervously as he started to back away from the angry blonde, before turning around running down the corridor with Marco close behind.  
“You think he was aware of the fact that he wasn’t wearing any clothes”? Haruta asked, staring after the two.  
“Oh don’t you worry, he’ll notice soon enough”. Izo answered with an amused tone.  
Marco’s POV  
After emptying my dinner in the toilet I sat next to the toilet panting heavily.  
I had no idea what was wrong with me, I rarely, almost never got sick, and I had felt fine this morning. Only tired, next to exhausted and hungry.   
And what was up with my weird mood swings? I was usually so calm and collected, I never let anything get under my skin. (except a certain fire user’s and cook’s NOT very funny pranks) but for some reason I act like a hormonal teenage girl! What the hell!  
“Ah guess ah have to apologize-yoi” I thought and sighed deeply as I stood up.  
“Might as well take a shower first though” I thought and took my clothes off.  
I hummed in content as the warm water drizzled over my body washing my tension away.  
After a while I noticed that something didn’t feel right, the water felt thicker and almost like it stuck to my body.  
I opened my eyes and felt my eyes widened as I saw the blue color covering my body.   
“What the he…” I thought.  
I quickly turned the water off and wrapped a towel around my waist as I exited the shower, looking myself over in the mirror across from the room.  
I was completely blue, my hair, my face, my body, everything was covered in a light deep blue.  
I was snapped out of my shock when the door burst open and a bewildered Thatch stormed in.  
My confusion was quickly turned into anger as I put two and two together.  
“Thatch” I growled and a sting of satisfaction ran through me as the man gulped, taking a step back.  
“woah woah Marco, I can explain I swear”! the man squeaked out and I crossed my arms tapping my foot as I waited for the explanation.   
I gave myself a mental clap on the shoulder for my patient since the only thing I wanted was smack the shit out of the other man.  
When no explanation came and Thatch instead turned around sprinting down the corridor I cursed myself for not punching him in the face the first thing I did and dashed after him to give him what he deserved.  
-x-  
Later  
I yawned loudly as I walked into my room.  
Hunting down Thatch had really drained me, and I wanted nothing more than take a nap.  
My body really confused me, usually I could easily go days with little to no sleep, but now it felt like I could sleep a week after almost no exercise at all, and I could eat mountains of food only to threw up everything at once.   
I could feel that my body was trying to tell me something, some kind of instinct trying to break free but I just couldn’t put my finger on what it was.  
I winced as my stomach started to hurt, it didn’t actually hurt that much, it was more like a stretching feeling, or the feeling you got after a good hard work out, but it was uncomfortable and unsettling, especially since I couldn’t remember doing anything that could be the cause of the feeling.  
But the worst part was the nests my phoenix side insisted on building, I knew my crewmates knew about them and I paled at the thought of them finding out that I was the one who built them, I would never live that one down.  
I didn’t even know why I was doing it!  
“What tha hell is happenin’, yoi” I mumbled as I sat down on my bed resting my head in my hands.  
I sighed once again and decided to let it rest for now and lied down. I was asleep in seconds.  
Dream POV  
I stood somewhere inside the Mody, looking around.  
After a short while I could hear someone approaching and I could see myself as I walked through the corridors of the Moby dick, I looked giddy but at the same time I was nervous, but couldn’t think of a reason why.  
I followed myself out on the deck, the sun shining bright.  
Suddenly a pair of arms hugged me from behind and I looked as my other self turned around to see Ace smiling brightly.  
Ace was saying something, I could see his lips move but it sounded like he was under water miles away instead of a few feet away.  
Suddenly Ace kneeled down, and I followed him with my gaze as he pressed his warm smooth lips against my other selves now over grown belly.  
I could feel my other selves pride and happiness as I looked at the scene playing out, and as the scene changed I opened my eyes to find that I was in my phoenix form, heat surrounding me.  
I huddled in closer, melting into the warmth. I shifted a little to the side and looked down at the egg lying there, and I could feel the love and protectiveness rushing through me, but still I felt calm, safe, as something told me that nothing could ever harm us. We were safe.  
The scene shifted again, and I could briefly see myself with a big belly, sometimes bigger and sometimes smaller, either surrounded with family or alone, smiling, laughing.  
I smiled at the pictures as they flashed by. A feeling of belonging and utterly happiness at the smiling faces of my family before the dream once again changed.  
I was still on the boat, in mine and Ace’s shared room to be more exact, but somehow something felt wrong.  
The room was a mess, clothes and furniture thrown around, broken items lying on the floor. Something bad had happened here and I could feel dread in my stomach.  
I could faintly see a form on the bed through the darkness, and slowly I walked over.  
As I came closer I could see that it was me, but something was off.  
As I stood there and looked down at myself, the other me was tossing around in his sleep, distress clear on his sweat covered face. I could sense the feeling of abandonment and heartbreak, and as I looked closer I could see the signs of tears on my cheeks, and the red necklace I had given Ace in the beginning of our relationship in one of the sleeping male’s hands.   
I jumped, startled as the other me shot up in bed, not expecting him to wake up.   
I watched as the man tried to catch his breath before sitting on the edge of the bed, resting his head in his hands.  
It took a few seconds before I realized the man was crying, shoulders shaking and small sobs escaping his mouth.  
Even though his whisper were as quiet as could be, I could hear the words just as clearly as if he had screamed them.  
“Why, Ace, why”  
Then the scene changed once again.  
I looked the room over, noticing someone lying on the bed in the infirmary; the person was alone except for the doctor who checked the person over. I couldn’t place who the person on the bed were, but I had this nagging feeling that it was someone I knew, very very well. As the conversation continued, I soon understood that the doctor asked questions, and even though I couldn’t make out much I heard most of the questions surprisingly clear, even though it sounded like the female doctor was talking from miles away as she asked if the person had experienced any dizziness, nausea, mood swings or change in appetite. Even though I couldn’t hear the other person, I had a feeling the answer on every question was yes. “what ‘s this about?” I thought as I watched the scene in front of me, wondering why my brain was showing me this, hell I wasn’t even sure I was still awake and if this was just some kind of weird dream or not, But kept watching the two people’s conversation for what felt like hours before the person was sitting up on the bed and the doctor stood up from the chair, writing something down. I could barely hear words as “3-4 weeks” and “congratulations” and “HCG test” as the doctors voice sounded muffled, and I frowned in frustration as the scene started to disappear. “Wait” I yelled, wanting answers to questions I hadn’t even thought of yet.  
Why was this so familiar? Why did it feel like the questions was directed at me more than the person on the bed? Why was the person so familiar?   
“You know why, Marco. Feel, don’t think. Listen to what your body is telling you.” I heard a voice in my head say as the scene in front of me turned into nothing.  
Dream ends.  
I shot up from my lying down position, breathing heavily.  
I desperately tried to make sense of the dream, I knew it must mean something, but I could only remember small fractions of it, and more disappeared as I completely woke up and my panic started to settle down.   
When I had finally calmed down enough and my breathing was back to normal I let myself fall back onto the soft bed, running a hand through my hair.  
I could really have needed Ace right now, even though he was a carless hot head 99% of the time, he was great in situations like this, and to say I missed his was an understatement.   
Ace has been gone for about 2 weeks by now and is supposed to come back in a couple of days. This was one of the longest missions he had gone on, the record being a month and I really started to miss having the younger man next to me.  
I huffed, rolling over to lie on my side as I closed my eyes, deciding to get a few more hours of sleep, noticing that it was still dark outside, and rubbed my head against my soft fluffy pillow and let out a noise almost like a purr in satisfaction at how soft it felt.   
As I had settled down I could feel the weird painful but still not painful feeling in my belly coming back and I gave a weak smile as I put a hand on in, feeling completely at peace, almost giddy for some weird reason I didn’t have the energy to look closer on at the moment as I started to drift of.   
I was almost asleep when realization dawned on me and I once again sat straight up in bed as I realized who the person on the bed was.  
“Oh my god” I whispered staring with wide eyes into the dark room as I started to put two and two together.  
“The person on the bed was me.”  
My mind was working at 200 miles an hour by now. “The doctor’s questions, The food, the nausea, the mood swings… how could I not have noticed it before”? i thought, completely shocked.  
“oh my god” I whispered once again, not even noticing that I was talking at all, or the hand on my belly, and too shocked to even think I whispered out the fact that had been hiding in the back of my mind for over a week, it completely impossible, but for some reason I just knew it was true.  
“I’m pregnant” 

 

-x-  
Ace smiled as the wind hit his face and brought the strong smell off the sea with it, and a feeling of pure happiness made him laugh as he made his way across the open sea on his beloved striker.  
He was finally, FINALLY on his way home.  
x-x-x-x


	3. The heart pirates

x-x  
It was a perfect day in the new world and Marco sat leaning on the railing with closed eyes as he enjoyed the sunshine.  
Across from the deck stood Ace talking to a member in his division, now and then sending worried looks over to where Marco sat.  
It had been 2 days since he found Marco crying in their room and still hadn’t had the time to bring it up. Cause of all the paperwork he hadn’t even had time to eat in the Galley, and the only time he had a chance to see Marco was when the blonde came in collapsing on the bed, dead asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.  
Ace sighed and gave a small smile, he just hoped that Marco would come to him whenever something bothered him, he never wanted to see Marco cry like that again.  
From afar Izo Thatch and Haruta watched the scene and Izo rolled his eyes at how stupid they could be.  
“So, Ace has no clue huh” Thatch said, a broad evil smile making it’s way over his face.  
“No… clue… at all… eh”? Haruta giggled out just as evilly.  
“Well… this should be interesting …don’t you agree?” Izo said, smiling as he turned to his siblings.  
-x-  
“Marco? Can we talk to you”?  
Marco lifted his head and looked towards the voice to see Izo, Thatch and Haruta.  
“Of course, yoi. What is it?” He asked, curious.  
“Uhm… You might want to go somewhere more… private for this one”. Thatch said, making Marco raise an eyebrow. Whatever it was it could surely not be that bad?   
“Whatever it is it can surely be discussed here, this is our family after all”. He said.  
His confusion raised as he watched the trio exchange a look and Izo bent forward to whisper something to him.  
As the words registered he felt himself freeze and he rose without a word and walked with the three.  
“How long have you known, yoi” he demanded to know. The trio looked at each other with and unsure expression until Izo sighed and told him.  
“I figured it out during dinner a couple of days ago after your… tantrum in the Galley”. He said.  
Marco nodded and sighed as he closed his eyes, leaning on the wall behind him.  
“the night Ace returned, the day you disappeared”? Izo began, not sure how to continue.  
“I went to see the towns doctor, to find out for sure”. Marco answered with a toneless voice.  
“and…”? Haruta asked with a whisper.  
Marco lifted his head and opened his eyes, not sure if he should answer or not, everything was so messed up right now… but.. this was his family.  
“I’m pregnant” h whispered, closing his eyes as he felt tears threatening to fall.  
He gasped in surprise as he felt someone hug him, and as he looked down he saw Thatch Izo and Haruta hugging him tightly, and through the tears now falling freely down his cheeks, a smile made it’s way onto his face, and he closed his eyes, enjoying the warmth of his siblings.  
After a few minutes Izo thought of something and looked up at his older brother.  
“You DO realize that you have to tell Ace, right”?   
Marco’s eyes snapped open and his face was the picture of horror.  
“SHIT”.  
x-x  
Ace’s POV  
I walked down the corridors of the Moby towards Oyajis room, the old man wanted to talk to me about something, probably another mission.   
I was actually kind of happy about that since I may or may not have spent the last 3 hours in my room arguing with myself about the Marco problem and then when I came up with no solution I had glared at a box like it offended my ancestors before burning it.  
Hah. Me- 1 box- 0  
I knocked at the door and got an instant reply to come in.  
“Hi son, how is everything”? Whitebeard greeted.  
“Hi pops, I’m doing fine thank you” I answered with a bright smile.  
“Good to hear”! Whitebeard said with a booming laugh.  
“so, what did you want to talk about”? I asked, cutting right to the case.  
“Well, we picked up on an emergency signal not far from here. It doesn’t seem like it was the marines doing, and I would like you to check it out”. Whitebeard said with a frown.  
“Emergency signal? Why do you want me to check it out”? I asked, surprised.  
“Oh, just a hunch is all”. Whitebeard said with a glint in his eyes. God knows I didn’t want to know what that meant.  
“alright pops, I’ll check it out, I’ll just pack a few things” I said with a smile.  
x-x  
“Ace, what are you doing”? Marco asked as he watched Ace pack his bag.  
“I’m leaving on a mission, I’ll be gone a few days or so tops” Ace said, not looking up.  
Disappointment flooded through Marco at this, he had really hoped he could spend some time with Ace, and of course his hormones had to make things worse.  
“Again? You JUST came back” he said, glaring and crossing his arms.   
Surprised Ace turned around and frowned at the glaring blond.  
“It’s not really my decision, Marco. What is wrong with you”? he asked, trying to keep calm.  
Marco on the other hand had hormones all over the place and calmness wasn’t really their top priority.  
“ME? What is wrong with YOU, are you trying to get away from me? Is that it?” he all but yelled.  
Ace stared in shock at his angry lover before the anger settled in and he gave him a sharp glare.  
“If this is how you are going to act then maybe some time away from you aren’t that bad, I was actually sad that I had to leave so soon, but maybe I should be happy instead” he yelled.  
Now it was Marco’s time to be shocked, he had no idea why he was acting this way, but that didn’t mean he was prepared for Ace’s answer.  
“LEAVE THEN, FUCKING LEAVE, GET OUT” he screamed with all his might.  
“I LEAVE WHEN I FUCKING WANT TO, I LIVE HERE TO” Ace screamed back.  
“I WISH YOU DIDN’T, THEN AT LEAST I WOULD KNOW I’D ALWAYS BE ALONE HERE AND DIDN’T HAVE TO WAIT FOR YOUR SORRY ASS TO GET BACK HERE”!  
At this Ace froze, his words died in his throat.  
“Fine.” He finally said after a long silence, and started walking towards the door.  
“I’ll leave for my missions now I don’t know how long it will take. ”. He said while opening the door, after he had opened the door he ripped oh his read bead necklace, holding it in his left hand.  
“DON’T wait for me”. He growled with a piercing glare and threw the necklace at Marco’s feet before slamming the door shut.  
Marco stood frozen, staring at the closed door, his eyes tearing up.  
“What have I done, yoi” he thought.  
-x- Later  
“so… What the heck is this weird beat up blob, and why is it yellow” I thought as I stood on the weird floating blob the signal apparently came from.  
I had arrived a couple minutes ago but I didn’t see a soul, leaving me confused as shit.  
“Don’t tell me I came all the way out here for nothing, honestly” I grumbled, disappointed at the lack of action.  
A loud noise turned my attention to my right as something I guessed was a door burst open and 2 guys and….. was that a freaking bear!!!?!??  
I watched them with a raised eyebrow as they kept on with their conversation, completely missing that I stood only a few feet away.  
“I don’t know what to do, I have never dealt with something like this on my own okay”?   
“Neither have we but we can’t let our captain down, we just can’t”  
“Uhm… excuse me”? Ace said, trying to get their attention.  
“I know that”?!?  
“heey, I’m still here”  
“Then what should we do”  
“I don’t know alright”?  
I sighed deeply and pinched the bridge of my nose.  
“So they are ignoring me huh, or maybe they are just that dumb.” I thought.  
“HEY” I yelled, finally losing my temper.  
“Hey Pen… Bepo… who is that”? The guy in the middle asked.  
“I don’t know”… the guy I guessed was penguin answered slowly.  
“My name Is Portgas D Ace, my crew received an emergency signal from this… blob, and sent me to investigate. So… you in trouble”?   
I wasn’t sure what kind of answer I was expecting, but getting 3 bawling men stuck to me wasn’t it.  
“Oi, OI calm down and get off me”! I yelled, franticly trying to get the men of me.  
When the 3 guys had finally calmed down a little they explained what had happened.  
They had been attacked during a storm and their captain had gotten injured, and how they had barely managed to get out of there before their sub broke down.  
“I see… well that’s quite the pinch… I guess I’ll have to help you then” I said with a big grin.   
“SERIOUSLY”? the penguin guy screeched.  
“Well, duh. What other reason would I have to travel here, if I wanted to kill you I would have done it already, right”? I laughed.  
“I’m sorry”… the bear said making me sweat drop as the other two yelled at the bear for apologizing.  
“what’s whit these guys… honestly…” i mumbled under my breath as I followed the trio below deck.  
-x-  
I yawned loudly as I looked down at the sleeping captain.  
I had managed to help the crew patch their sub up before taking a look at their captain to see if there was anything I could do.  
I wasn’t really a doctor, but growing up in a jungle you had no other choice but to learn how to stitch up a wound.  
The crew was so thank full that they had decided to give me a ride back to the Moby, but it didn’t feel right considering their captain was knocked out so I declined.   
I yelped in surprise as the submarine shook and I just managed to prevent the unconscious captain from falling to the floor.  
“what the hell are they doing, morons” I growled.  
I had taken a liking to this funny crew the short period of time, and the stories about their captain made me take an instant liking to him as well, cold as he sounded he sounded exactly as my type of guy. Pride full and loyal to his friends.  
On the other side of the room, penguin and Saschi had woken up by the loud sounds and shaking and looked around the room confused and sleepy.  
Suddenly the door slammed open and a crewmember appeared, out of breath and a terrified expression on his face.  
“THE MARINES IS HERE, THEY FOUND US THEY ARE HERE FOR CAPTAIN” He screamed.  
The ship shock again and the other two wasted no time in running out of the room.  
I sent a look at the sleeping man before following. I had no doubt that on a normal day, this crew could hold their own just fine, but I would make sure that everything went fine anyway. I wasn’t about to let my new friends die, and I’d be damned if the marines got what they wanted that easy.  
As i neared the door to the sub, I could clearly hear the marine speak, and I could feel my blood boil.  
“Trafalgar Law is nothing but a demon, hand him over and we might let you scum get out of here alive” The man spoke, and through my anger I rolled my eyes.  
Before anyone else could speak, I walked out on deck and spoke, lightning up my whole right arm.  
“And why should we hand over Trafalgar to the likes of you”? I said with a smirk, tipping my hat so that I could look at the man.  
“That man is a good for nothing pirate, and I the great Captain Shmuss will bring him to justice” the man exclaimed proudly.  
“Oi, oi, oi, ain’t someone cocky today. Well, sorry to burst you bubble, but there is no way in hell that I would let any harm come to that man”. I said smirking a sinister smile, before glaring darkly at the man.  
“This crew is currently under my protection, now leave before I fry your brain for even suggesting handing my friend over” I said with a venomous voice, igniting both my arms and my shoulders on fire for extra intimidation.  
“Hey, captain, I… I think that’s fire fist Ace” A marine whispered to the Marine captain.  
I felt a enormous urge to laugh as I saw the Captain blanch before screaming orders to “turn the fucking ship around” and as soon as the ship was a fair distance away, I couldn’t hold it and fell to the ground, holding my stomach as I laughed. Obvious to the stunned and shocked crew, staring at me with disbelief.   
-x-  
Normal pov  
“BYEEEE, REMEMBER TO SAY HI TO YOUR CAPTAIN FROM ME ALRIGHT”? Ace yelled as he waved the yellow sub goodbye.  
He had just taken off to go back to the Moby Dick, and even though he was a bit sad to have to leave his new friends so soon, it felt good to be on his way back home.  
He felt bad for leaving the way he did, he had no idea what the hell was wrong with Marco, but after thinking about it, leaving the way he did was not a good way to handle it.  
But that didn’t mean he wasn’t still pissed.  
As the sub had submerged once again, Ace sighed turning around to the open sea.  
“Best to get this over with I guess” He thought as he flew over the ocean.  
-x-  
Ace sighed as he looked up at the dark sky.  
He had been back for about 30 minutes now but still hadn’t gone to look for Marco, their fight still fresh in his mind.   
Usually, Ace wasn’t one to run from a fight, and every part of him practically screamed at him to find Marco, but all of this was so confusing he forced himself to sit down and think it over, he felt as if he backed down, he’d lose something precious to him, but he had the feeling that if he rushed head in to this, he might lose something regardless.  
It wasn’t like Marco at all to get emotional like that, he’d of course seen him sad, happy, and Ace shuddered as he thought the word Angry, remembering the times Marco had lashed out at him for the pranks he did.  
But this? This wasn’t like Marco at all!   
“Just what the hell is going on here” Ace mumbled, frowning.  
-x- Marco’s POV evening.  
I gasped for air after emptying my stomach in the toilet and groaned as my stomach hurt.  
I hadn’t been eating since Ace left earlier that day and to say my stomach wasn’t pleased was a big understatement, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. It was always the same whenever we fought, I’d just lose my appetite completely. Ace wasn’t happy at all with this habit of mine and always made sure to feed me afterwards. That was probably the only upside, Ace could never stay mad at me for too long and always made sure to apologize if he did something wrong.  
I thought back to the first real argument we’d had, Ace had stayed away for a whole week until he noticed my starved state. I had never seen Ace that upset than the moment he realized I had stopped eating.  
He had dragged me to the kitchen forcing me to eat until my stomach had grown comically. You can’t even imagine the food coma afterwards.  
Slowly not to upset my stomach I rose from my kneeled down position in front of the toilet and walked to our bedroom to get some rest. I really wanted to wait for Ace, but considering how beat I was that probably wasn’t going too happened.   
As I entered the room we shared I felt like someone punched me really hard in the stomach and let out a strangled sound at the feeling.   
“What the hell was that, yoi” I asked myself, furrowing my brows.   
I stood still for a while, stroking the spot where it hurt before shrugging it off. After all, I was pregnant, and who was I to say that wasn’t normal.  
“I really hope Ace come’s back soon… miss him..” I thought as I lay down, needless to say I was asleep in seconds.  
The next time I woke up it was still dark outside, and I guessed I hadn’t been asleep for too long.   
I was confused as to why I had woken up, ever since the pregnancy started I had no problem sleeping all night through, and preferably a good bit into the day as well.  
I slowly sat up, gasping as I felt the pain in my lower stomach.  
I felt worry flowing over me and I quickly got up from the bed.  
As fast as I dared I searched the room for clothes and quickly found my pants and favorite shirt.  
After I put the pants on and was about to put the shirt on, I came to a stop as I got a look on myself in the mirror.  
Putting a hand on my belly I traced the outline of my abs, Thatch’s words from the meal a couple of days earlier replaying in my head as I looked at the once rock hard abs. they were still there but they were less defined and there was no doubt that I had gained a few pounds.   
I gave my beloved shirt a look before throwing it aside and after a little closet digging I found one of Ace’s old shirts from before he decided that “well yes I am indeed to sexy for my shirt”, and put it on.  
It was still pretty formfitting and showed pretty much every inch of my upper body, but at least it hid the fact that I had indeed started to get “plushy” as Thatch had so simply put it, and I started making my way out.  
I wasn’t sure where I was going, but I had the sudden urge not to be alone, but almost the moment I started to walk through the corridor towards the deck I felt a sharp pain in my stomach.  
I gritted my teeth and leaned against the wall as I continued to make my way over to the deck.  
I was starting to feel scared now, even though I wouldn’t admit it, I had no idea what the hell was happening and I wanted, NEEDED my family right now. Anyone would due, as long as I didn’t have to be alone right now.  
As the door to the deck came into sight and i could hear the music coming from the other side I was starting to feel dizzy, and as I reached the door I was panting from the effort of keeping myself upright.   
“I don’t feel too good, yoi” I said with a weak voice, almost like a whisper, trying to catch my breath.  
I pushed the door open and was met with the sight of my family dancing, drinking and having fun.  
I could hear someone talking to me, but the dizziness was getting stronger and I couldn’t make out the words. It was like they was talking from under water.  
I gripped the soft fabric of my shirt with the hand resting on my stomach, and closed my eyes, taking deep breaths trying to get the dizziness away and ease the pain.  
I was surrounded by my family now, I was safe, everything was going to be okay.  
I could still feel the other person talking to me, I could hear the worry in the persons voice but I still couldn’t make out any words.  
“M’ fine”.. I mumbled. without opening my eyes I took a shaky step forward but suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my stomach, it felt like someone had stabbed me with a sword and with a pained sound I fell to my knees, clutching my stomach with both hands.  
I gritted my teeth at the stabbing pain and didn’t notice when the music around me died out, I didn’t register the panicked sounds of my family as I fell on to my side, whimpering in pain.  
It just hurt SO MUCH! I could barely breath, and my breath came in sort gasps.  
I could faintly hear panicked screams around me and the feeling of being lifted up by two strong arms before the dizziness took over and I passed out.  
-  
When I opened my eyes, I noticed that I wasn’t in my and Ace’s bedroom but in the infirmary.   
I tried to remember what the hell happened yesterday and felt my eyes widened as I remembered what happened.   
“I really must have scared everyone” I mumbled, feeling a pang of guilt for scaring my family like that.  
“You got that right” a soft voice to my right said and I looked over to see a frowning Ace.  
“Ace, yoi” I whispered, taking in the worried image of my younger lover.  
“You really scared the shit out of everyone, I don’t think I have ever seen everyone loose it like that before, it would have looked funny if.. you know.” Ace said with a small smile making my heart skip a beat.  
“I’m sorry” I said, looking down.  
“It’s ok, but you have to promise never EVER to scare me like that again, alright”? Ace said, putting a finger under my chin to make me look at him.  
“I promise” I said, making Ace smile and kiss my forehead.  
After a while Ace leaned back in the chair and crossed his arms, looking serious.  
“So” He started, and I could feel my heart beating faster.  
“Care to tell me what the hell is going on”?  
Ace’s POV  
After I had asked my lover what the hell was going on, there was a silence, and I could almost smell the panic radiating off of Marco, making me frown.  
A few minutes passed and I was starting to get impatient, wanting to get an answer.  
“Well”? I asked, getting a small yelp in response. I would have laughed if the situation wasn’t so serious, and my worry for the blonde only kept on rising together with the irritation caused by the answer he wouldn’t give me.  
Normal POV  
Marco looked away at the question, not daring to look at Ace. “nothing, I’m fine, yoi” Marco mumbled, and Ice had to fight down the urge to punch a hole through the wall in frustration.  
“What do you mean by nothing? Before I left you were normal, calm and everything was perfect, we shared the most amazing night together, and when I get back, you are emotional, you sleep all the time, and yesterday… I don’t know what to call that Marco, but that is NOT nothing. And the worst part is that you won’t TELL me what’s wrong damn it! Marco I LOVE you, but you need to TRUST me”!  
Ace all but yelled, and watched as Marco’s face turned into a expression of hurt.  
Ace sighed, sitting down on the edge of the bed, putting a hand on Marco’s stomach. He was surprised at the unusual soft feeling, and faintly wondered if Marco had gained some weight. The flinch from the blonde answered his question and he smiled lovingly.  
“So that’s it, huh… stupid phoenix” He thought. He looked up at the blondes face and had to fight down a laugh at the blonde’s face. A blush had spread over his nose and cheeks, and he looked like he wanted to disappear into thin air.  
Ace smiled a toothy smile as he started to rub his lovers now softer belly, earning a squeak of surprise making Ace giggle. He slowly bent forward and lifted the blonde’s shirt and pressed a kiss onto his less defined abs.  
As he lifted his head, he saw the unsure look in Marco’s eyes, and rolled his eyes before pulling him into a hug.  
“Did you really think that I’d find you less attractive just because you gained a little weight”? he mumbled into the blonde’s soft locks, earning a hum in response.  
“Sorry to be the one to tell you this but, that is the most impossible thing I have ever heard. There is no way in hell possible that I’ll ever find you less attractive, no matter how much weight you gain. I love you Marco” Ace whispered in his ear making Marco smile as he melted into the hug.  
They stayed in the hug for what felt like hours, only parting when Marco’s stomach let out a loud rumble, making Ace laugh as a deep blush colored Marco’s cheeks.  
“You’ll wait here, I’ll get some food for you”. Ace said, kissing his cheek before standing up to leave.  
Marco didn’t know what he was thinking as he watched Ace walk towards the door, it was like his brain said ‘fuck it, if you don’t do something, then i will’, and before he had the chance to catch up, the real reason for his weird behaving had been shouted loud and clear into the room, and it was like the time itself stopped as Ace froze mid step. Marco gulped loudly and with his heart in his throat he watched as Ace slowly turned around to look at Marco, wide eyes and mouth slightly open. He closed it and opened it a few times, the seconds turning into minutes feeling like an eternity before one single word left his mouth.  
“What”?

x-x-x-x-x-x-x  
CLIFFHANGEEERRR   
We all hate them, but they make the next chapter sooo much sweeter :D


	4. I'll be here

**_Earlier_ **

_* Marco didn’t know what he was thinking as he watched Ace walk towards the door, it was like his brain said ‘fuck it, if you don’t do something, then i will’, and before he had the chance to catch up, the real reason for his weird behaving had been shouted loud and clear into the room, and it was like the time itself stopped as Ace froze mid step. Marco gulped loudly and with his heart in his throat he watched as Ace slowly turned around to look at Marco, wide eyes and mouth slightly open. He closed it and opened it a few times, the seconds turning into minutes feeling like an eternity before one single word left his mouth._

_“What”?*_

**-x-**

Marco shifted under Ace’s heavy gaze as the other male stared him wide eyed.

“what… did you just say”? Ace asked weakly. There was no way Marco had just said what he thought he had, he had just HEARD him wrong, and soon he’d be laughing it off with Marco shaking his head while muttering about Ace not listening, or maybe he would punch him for even thinking that Marco had said something so… ABSURD!

Marco flinched at the question, swallowing loudly and slightly shaking as the tension in the air rose.

“Ace… i’m pregnant” Marco whispered, looking Ace dead in the eyes, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to hide it anymore. It was no use anyway since he had blurted it out like he did, and Ace would sure as hell have his head if he lied now.

“you… you are serious? This isn’t like, a getting back on me prank for that egg in our bed?” Ace asked.

Marco didn’t answer, and the silence must have been a god enough answer since Ace nodded.

“Yeah, ok, fine i get it, alright” he said, smiling a not so convincing smile.

Then, just as the door behind him burst open revealing whitebeard and the commanders, Ace did something Marco never thought he’d see Ace do.

He fainted.

The heavy silence that followed was even worse than the tension from before, and just as Marco didn’t think he could take it anymore, Thatch spoke up.

“sooo….. bad timing”? He asked, staring at Ace’s unmoving form.

“You think”? Izo said with a roll of his eyes, while the rest stood completely dumbfounded, not knowing what to say.

**-x-**

When Ace came too again, he noticed he had been moved back to his and Marco’s room, and not that he wanted to admit it, but he was actually thank full. He needed time to think.

Marco, _his_ Marco, pregnant!? How was that even possible!

No… this HAS to be a prank… a really bad prank to get back at him for that egg incident he pulled a couple of months back.

The mood swings? Acting. Yesterday? A coincidence. The weight gain… huh. Ace stopped pacing looking thought full. That one he actually had no accurate answer for. There was no way Marco would sacrifice his abs only to get back at him Ace thought as he recalled the soft feeling his older lover’s stomach had gotten.

Ace had of course came across pregnant people before, pregnant WOMEN! So he did know about the signs. Morning sickness, dizziness, mood swings, weight gain… but no matter how many times he thought about it, over and over again could he see any way that Marco could possible be carrying a child. He was a MAN damn it, Ace had seen enough of his body to be more than sure about that, and if there was one thing he knew about autonomy, it was that Females carried children, males DIDN’T!

“Damn it” He cursed and sat down at the bed, trying to calm down. Ace took a deep breath, and another one after that. He was stressing way to much about this and he needed to calm down.

As his beating heart finally started to calm down, he thought back to how Marco had acted this last couple of days, and their conversation in the infirmary, and realized that there was no way Marco would ever lie about something like this, and he couldn’t help the sudden spark of excitement as he jumped up and ran out of the room.

**-x- Marco’s POV**

I stood at the front of the ship, looking at the waves. Ever since my conversation with Ace i had felt down, nervous. I had no idea what the other was thinking, and i was scared shitless about the possibility that Ace would leave me.

I heard someone approach from behind, and as I turned around, I came face to face with a serious looking Ace.

We stood like that for what felt like an eternity before I decided to break the silence.

“Ace…I “ I started, but Ace held up a hand, quietly asking me to be quiet, and I obeyed.

“The last thing you told me, I want you to say it”. Ace said, looking straight into my eyes.

“What”? i asked, confused.

“The last thing you told me while you were in the infirmary, i want you to say it, just the way you said it the first time”. Ace said.

I gulped, nervous because of the serious look on Ace’s face, but still… there was something in Ace’s eyes egging him on. Telling him that it was ok.

I swallowed again and looked Ace straight in the eyes as I opened my mouth.

“Ace, I am pregnant”. It was barely a whisper, but it might as well have been a scream, and the moment the words left his mouth, a face splitting grin spread over Ace’s mouth, his whole face brightening and before I could say another word, Ace had lifted me up and swung me around, laughing in pure happiness before putting me down and my heart swelled in happiness as I took in Ace’s blissful expression.

“I’m going to be a dad” Ace whispered with a broken voice as tears of happiness fell down his cheeks and as he pulled me into a hug I could feel my own tears starting to fall as well.

“oh my god, i am really going to be a dad, I can’t believe it” Ace half laughed half cried as he released me from the hug, and all I could do was nod, not trusting my voice for the moment. Ace pulled me into another hug, and I finally felt completely at peace.

 

A few meters away stood Thatch, Haruta and Izo watching the scene in front of them, all of them had big smiles on their faces as they turned around to leave the two love birds for themselves for a while, because god knows they’d be thank full for it once the word got out to the rest of the crew.

**-x-  A while later.**

Ace smiled gently as he looked down at his resting lover, after they had calmed down, they had retreated to their room,  and the first thing that happened when they lay down in bed was that Marco snuggled up close to Ace and fell asleep, a smile on his lips.

Now when Ace was alone with his thoughts, the anxiety startet to take over once again, and the smile fell from his lips as he thought about the situation he was in.

His boyfriend since only a few months was pregnant with his child, and even though Ace didn’t doubt his feeling for the male, he couldn’t stop the questions to pop into his mind, like, ‘Are we ready for this’? ‘How is this possible’?

Also, Ace wasn’t sure about how he felt about continuing the cursed bloodline he belonged too.

His childhood had been hard, filled with hate towards his father and having to fight the dark thoughts he had about his own existent.  He had found his place with Luffy and Sabo, and then later whitebeard and Marco, but he still wondered if his life was a mistake, borrowed time.

He wasn’t sure if he was willing to make another child go through what he had.

**-x-**

Marco woke up slowly, surrounded by heat, and he sighed in happiness and hugged the body of his lover closer. He didn’t want to wake up just yet, he wanted to stay in bed for a little while longer, but unfortunately his stomach decided that this was a brilliant time to have a flipping contest.

Marco groaned in displeasure and shot up from bed so fast that Ace yelped in surprise and watched in shock as his lover sprinted out of their room with a hand pressed against his mouth.

It took a second before he realized what was happening and was running after Marco as he ran into the closest bathroom and emptied his stomach into the toilet.

Ace walked in slowly and kneeled behind his lover, gently stroking his back until it was over, letting him know that he was there for him.

As he watched the blonde gasp for air he came to an conclusion, whatever doubts he had about this child he’d keep to himself. This child was coming, and he’d support Marco all the way through.


End file.
